‘Alien’ Designer and Surrealist Artist H.R. Giger Dead at 74

H.R. Giger, the surrealist artist hired by director Ridley Scott to design the creature and the sets for his 1979 film 'Alien,' has died at the age of 74 from injuries he sustained after suffering a fall.

Giger frequently described his style as "biomechanical," a blend of the human body and machine he would say was "the transplanting of human skin on our surroundings." His work often depicted a nightmarish landscape with sexual fetishisms, many of which are too NSFW to reprint here (but, can be found all over the internet).

In 1977, 'Alien' writer Dan O'Bannon introduced Scott to Giger's work, particularly the painting "Necronom IV," which he felt perfectly represented the creature in the script. In 1980, Giger would win an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for his work on the project.

In addition to 'Alien,' Giger created designs for 'Dune' and even worked with Warner Bros. and Joel Schumacher on a new Batmobile for 'Batman Forever.'

H.R. Giger's Batmobile Concept Art / Warner Bros.

Giger himself directed a number of art films, including 'Swiss Made,' 'Tagtraum,' and 'Giger's Necronomicon.'

Outside of the world of movies, Giger produced cover art for albums from Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Danzig and the Dead Kennedys.

Giger is survived by his wife Carmen Maria Scheifele Giger, who also runs the H.R. Giger Museum in Zurich, Switzerland.